Monday, June 1, 2015

Teachers, Parents and Students - for a No-Bummer Summer, Try This Bucket List

Twas the Night Before Summer Vacation

Twas the night school ended, and in all the houses

Not a child was stirring-all alarm clocks were doused.

The backpacks were stored in the closets ‘till Fall

While children slept soundly - no reason to stall.

Moms and Dads tossed in their sheet-rumpled beds

While visions of chaos caromed through their heads.

Facing weeks with no schedules, nor essays to write,

Joey and Jane would probably just sleep, eat and fight.

When from their computers there rose such a clatter,

Parents clicked on the Net to tune into the chatter.

Facebook pages, Twitter and Pinterest flowed

With kudos for a Bucket List they just had to download.

The URL they copied, then they clicked on the link

Hoping for ideas so their worries would shrink.

When what to their grateful eyes did appear, but

A Summer Bucket List with awesome choices to cheer.

The thirteen suggestions would spawn stimulation,

Chasing away boredom which breeds during vacations.

Their kids’ minds and bodies would be active and aware

Even without homework and school lessons to bear.

“We must call the Timms, the Taylors and Turners!

We can’t let this wonder crouch on any back burners.”

Dads grabbed their Smartphones, their fears now abated,

While Moms sent emails and social statuses they’d updated.

As the sun rose announcing a school-free June day,

Refrigerators, world-wide, this List did display.

Not summer assignments, Oh no, not this list,

But propositions to tempt, to engage-not resist.

I offer this Summer Bucket List on TpT for free

To parents, to children, to teachers - what glee!

When asked in the Fall, “What did you do this summer?”

‘Cause of the List, no kid'll reply, “Mine was a bummer.”

(I adapted the format for this from Clement Moore’s Twas the Night Before Christmas.)

Every summer, parents worry about how to insure that their children will not morph into the Abominable App Creature.

Every summer, kids become bored with sleeping until noon, lounging around and texting their BFFs, and crave some mental and physical stimulation-those not taking classes, working or attending various camps, that is. No, they don’t want summer assignments heaped on them, but they do want to think, to be inspired, to go places and to see people. And they want these experiences to be fun.

Over the years, I have been a teacher, a parent and a child. In all three roles, I endured the same anxiety, concerns and lethargy as summer rolled from one steamy day into the next. I remember all too well tossing around my parents’ bed while my mother ironed the family’s 100% cotton clothes. Bored to tears, I chose to irritate her with my howls of, “I have nothing to do!” And it wasn’t even the end of June, yet!

Although my two children are now grown and I no longer have to deal with the Summer Doldrums, I do have two granddaughters - ages 8 and 11- who visit me often, so I always need ideas to make our time together fun. And although I have retired from teaching, I will never turn my back on learning- no matter the season.

That’s why I created A Summer Bucket List. This FREE product offers young people from 6-16 opportunities to think, to sing, to write, to be physically active, to read, to use basic math skills, to experiment, to get involved in their communities and much more, but without the constrictions and restrictions of school. They choose, they do and they have fun. Check it out and maybe tape it to the fridge…just don’t tell your children that they will be practicing comprehension, computing, critical thinking and writing skills that they associate with school. Leave that to their teachers next fall.